The First Kisses of Katniss Everdeen
by Starzki
Summary: A glimpse into the thoughts and emotions of those giving and receiving Katniss's first kisses.  Canon.  One-shot.


Disclaimer: The characters of _The Hunger Games_ belong to Suzanne Collins and I am not profiting by writing my own little tidbits about them.

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The First Kisses of Katniss Everdeen

By Starzki

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Katniss's mother was worried. The pain of childbirth had brought some clarity.

She watched as the midwife puttered around the small house, straightening up, putting blankets and linen away, retrieving the new baby from the crib. It would be a few hours before Katniss's father would be back from the mines, and in the empty space until his return, Katniss's mother worried.

The midwife would be back in a few days and Katniss's mother would use the last of the money from selling her father's store to pay her. And that would be it. Their money would be gone but for whatever her husband could bring in from working the mines, which was so little.

Years ago, when she had fallen for the boy from the Seam who sang so beautifully, moving from town felt like an exciting adventure. She knew that she would happily bear any hardships as long as they were together. But since baby made three, living on love seemed foolish and dangerous. She was responsible for this new life, yet was unsure if there would be enough money to sustain all of them.

So Katniss's mother worried. She cradled the infant in her arms and kissed her on her cheek, just below her left eye and hoped this tiny person was a survivor.

-x-

Katniss's father was elated to come home to find his daughter had been born.

He took the infant from her sleeping mother's side and brought her to the window in the kitchen to help her look out.

"There's a great big world out there, little one, and as soon as you're able, I'm going to show it to you."

She regarded him with steady eyes. He was pleased to see that she favored him with her dark hair and her determined chin.

"Oh, you're a fighter. I can tell. And I'll bet you'll be breaking hearts left and right when you're older."

Katniss then squeaked and yawned, ready for another nap. Her father joined his wife in bed. He kissed Katniss on the nose and nestled her between them, proud to have helped create such a perfect little creature as this baby girl.

-x-

Prim was determined to pluck the autumn leaf from its branch.

It was very high. Even Katniss couldn't reach it when she jumped, and Katniss being eight years old, could jump far higher than Prim.

The leaf was a beautiful mix of red and yellow and Prim knew just how much Katniss wanted it as a treasure. Maybe, thought Prim, if that leaf were a present, Katniss wouldn't leave her behind so often as she left with their father on adventures.

Therefore, when their mother was otherwise occupied, their father at work, and Katniss distracted in the Meadow, Prim moved the rain barrel and a crate from near the house to create a makeshift staircase so she could reach the leaf that was too stubborn to fall on its own.

At first, it seemed too easy. Prim made it to the top and could balance quite well. Unfortunately, she was just a hair too short to grasp the leaf. It teased her finger tips, but never relented to fall low enough to grip.

Prim made a short huff of frustration, then panicked as she saw Katniss approaching. This was supposed to be a surprise!

She half jumped for the leaf, which upset the barrel and she fell to the ground with a thud.

Katniss rushed to her side and examined Prim's newly skinned knee and tutted at her.

Prim then presented her leaf to Katniss, refusing to cry at the pain.

Katniss took the leaf, amazed. She looked at Prim with new eyes, full of respect. She then leaned down and kissed her sister's knee, the first kiss not prompted by a parent, before helping her to her feet.

Prim sighed happily. She was glad to have been able to give something to her sister and glad to have received an even greater treasure from Katniss.

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Even as it was happening, Peeta knew he was doomed to forget his first kiss with Katniss.

He had only barely managed to escape Cato and find a place to hide as the tracker jacker venom took its toll on his mind. As he came back to himself, he knew that his wound was serious and might end up killing him.

But he wanted to live, if only to protect Katniss as long as he could, so he camouflaged himself and waited, hoping that the Gamemakers wouldn't send more fire to flush him out of his hiding spot.

Peeta waited. He hurt. He hoped Katniss was doing okay.

He waited. He began to notice that his wound didn't hurt as much any more. Peeta knew that this was probably a bad sign.

He waited. And suddenly Katniss was there. She was helping him. She reawakened the pain in his leg, for which he was eternally grateful. But Peeta knew he was dying. Everything seemed surrounded by mist and at times he could only see Katniss's shadow moving through the grayness. But she often got close enough that she broke through the fog and Peeta could marvel at her face and know that she cared enough for him to try to save him.

Once in the cave, the mist surrounding him grew worse and he hoped that when Katniss won the Games, she would tell his family that he was thinking of them.

Only she wouldn't let him get the words out. Instead, he felt her cool mouth on his. He felt the moisture of her lips. And he felt shocked and elated and despairing. He knew the mists would probably rob almost every nuance of this memory and that their first kiss would be largely lost to him forever. But she still kissed him and he knew that it had to mean something.

He only hoped that she would kiss him again and again in a future where he wasn't sick, where he wasn't dying, and where he could remember every little detail forever.

-x-

Gale felt the emotions inside of him roil and collide.

Anger fought with genuine caring and respect for Katniss as they resumed their hunting. They were pretending that nothing had happened.

Gale hated pretending.

But he hated the Capitol even more. They had made him watch. It was required. So Gale had watched as Katniss struggled to survive. As she nearly died. As she developed a relationship with Peeta Mellark. As they turned her into a living doll with none of those beautiful flaws that only he had ever known about. It was disgusting.

Yet he was glad to have her back. He was happy that she no longer was seeing the Mellark boy. That she was here with him.

But that happiness was so tinged with anger and hatred for what they had made her do he hardly knew what to do with it.

So, at the fence, when Katniss seemed only too contented to keep pretending that the 74th Hunger Games had never happened, Gale lost control.

He pulled her to him and kissed her with all the feeling he had.

He heard her noise of surprise and tasted her confusion on his lips. It was not the reaction he had wanted. She had been willing to pretend to enjoy it with the Mellark boy, why couldn't she spare him and do so now?

But then Gale remembered that he hated pretending, and he knew he had to get away from her as fast as possible.

-x-

Both of Katniss's children came into the world in the same way.

They took their first breaths in the bright and cold confusion of a new world without any of the dampening filters of the womb. They despaired.

Yet, within minutes, they were swaddled and placed in the warm arms of their mother, whose voice they knew. They calmed.

They heard a soft lullaby as they began to fall asleep, so tired from the trauma of coming into existence. They felt a drop of wetness on their cheek: a tear of happiness from their mother as she rocked them.

They felt a kiss, gentle and comforting, on their foreheads as they drifted off, beginning to understand what it felt to be truly safe in the world.

END.

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><p>Author's Note: This is my first attempt at a <em>Hunger Games<em> fic. I absolutely fell in love with Collins's characters and her world, and I came up with this little story. I would love to hear what readers think!


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